A heartful thanks all of our friends and supporters who voted for FACE Africa during the All for Africa Trust of the Month competition. I am so humbled by the outpouring of love and support.

When I first found out FACE Africa was nominated for the All for Africa Trust of the month, I was beyond excited and honored to be nominated with organizations like BATONGA Foundation and Shine on Sierra Leone, both of which are doing amazing work in Africa. But I knew we needed to do everything we could to win. $30,000 per year for operational expenses for the next 30 years is a tremendous sum! It will not only allow us to strengthen our capacity – human resources, systems, and infrastructure both here and in Liberia, but will also put us in a better position to carry out our mission and focus our other donor funds on core activities.

The trust from All for Africa will cover almost 100% of our operational expenses including wages for 17 staff members, rent, transportation, phone charges etc. This cost saving of $30,000 a year will allow FACE Africa to install two more water purification systems a year.

FACE Africa’s current focus is Water and Sanitation. According to UNICEF, consuming contaminated water or not having access to clean water causes over 80% of all illnesses in developing countries. Unpurified water causes diarrhea, dysentery, cholera, and typhoid fever among other diseases leading to mortality among children, the elderly and infirm. Nearly 90% of deaths from diarrhea-related diseases in children below 5 years old are due to unsafe water and sanitation. More than 1.5 million children under the age of 5 die from diarrhea annually because they either consumed unsafe drinking water or do not have adequate availability of water for hygiene purposes. In Liberia, years of civil war left the country’s infrastructure in ruins and for the majority of Liberians, ground water fetched from wells, streams, or rivers remain the primary source of drinking water.

To address this problem, we are installing water purification systems in Liberia based on a solar-powered nanoporous membrane.  The system is intended to be used in areas with poor quality feed waters such as surface water or ground and no conventional water purification technologies. The membrane known as Skyhydrant  can produce up to 20,000 liters of drinking water per day.  The system is sustainable: it can last up to seven years, requires minimal maintenance, and no additional power or conditioning chemicals.  Installing one Skyhydrant costs between $15,000 to $19,000 and our goal is to install three to five Skyhydrants per year in communities in Liberia, with a focus on schools, slums and orphanages. FACE Africa has began the installation of a Skyhydrant in small community in Bardnersville, Liberia with a population of 400-650. The system will fulfill the clean water needs of this community for more than five years.

I encourage all of our friends and supporters to bring the same excitement and vigor they brought during the voting process and purchase trees for the FACE Africa trust. Purchasing one tree is only $20, which automatically translates into $600! A great return on your investment.

Saran Kaba Jones

Executive Director, Face Africa